Game Review: Opoona (Wii)

It's off-beat, unique, and eccentric in a way that only the greatest Japanese …

Opoona is one of those strange Japanese titles that sometimes, just sometimes, blossoms on the soil of a country it wasn't designed for. Parappa did it. Mr. Domino did it. Katamari did it. And now Opoona just may be the next big, weird thing.

Opoona, a young space traveler, finds himself stranded on a mysterious human world after being attacked during a trip with his family. Lost and alone, he needs to work with the humans, learn their customs, and fight alongside them against the evil Dark Force corrupting their planet in order to find his way home. It's all very light and airy—older, jaded gamers may scoff—but many will find themselves gleefully playing along with the light-hearted, easygoing nature of the game. It's hard not to like Opoona; he's the classic "first day at a new school" character.

Koei bills the game as a lifestyle RPG, and rightly so: fighting monsters, developing characters, and moving the plot forward is only part of the game. Though the game proceeds for the most part like any ordinary RPG—you take up quests, fight monsters, recover loot, move forward towards the ultimate final confrontation with the Dark Forces, and so forth—Opoona has been lost within a foreign culture that he cannot escape until he can adapt. Therefore, you'll need to develop his personality adequately before you can start to make progress. This requires learning to talk, learning to appreciate art, developing friendships, taking work from the humans, and more; a wide range of various activities, represented by increasable stats, need to be undertaken.

Through these, you'll discover an incredibly diverse and interesting world full of so much knowledge and culture. Most of the best parts of the game don't even have anything to do with the main story, but rather stem from moments of admiring a culture like some kind of virtual tourist. There's a sense of mystery and awe with the world around the character. This is unlike most games where the fantasy is experienced by the player rather than the character. Opoona himself has never seen our world, and he learns alongside you in a way that proves extremely engaging.

Much of the game is spent moving around cities in your neat little hovercraft and participating in the various personality-building activities, but battling does play a key role in the game's progress. During battle, you'll have only the BonBon atop of Opoona's head as your weapon. Essentially, you use the analog stick to adjust power, spin, and direction before throwing this ball at enemies. Different variations of enemy placement and Bonbon flight paths as well as "Force" abilities, which act out as the game's spells, make combat slightly more complex. The ability to upgrade your Bonbon also adds to the complexity in a variety of ways. Opoona has all the trademark JRPG elements, with a kick.

Surprisingly, Opoona does little with the Wii's unique features. The game boasts nunchuck-only control, which is neat in its on right, but hardly revolutionary, or even innovative. The lack of motion control doesn't hurt the game, but there are times when you may wonder why you're flinging Opoona's Bonbon with the analog stick rather than a forceful remote swing.

The game's lighthearted attitude and simple mechanics are punctuated by fitting visuals and aural design. Sharp-looking and colorful cel-shading that sports a distinct art style convey the action, while conventional but unobtrusive tunes hum along in the background.

The only things that are really going to hurt the experience for some are the relative lack of difficulty and the somewhat rough edges. Random battles are frequent but fairly easy, and that stays the same throughout the course of the game. Bosses are a little more challenging, but still not anything actually hard. Also hurting the overall product a bit are some spots of translation woes, though that's pretty much par for the course for a Japanese game like this.

Still, Opoona is a game that I desperately want to run to the hilltops and cry out about. It's just one of "those" games for me, personally. For some, the off-beat action and easygoing adventure will make this a memorable Wii trip, while for others, the game will come off as childish and simplistic. Thankfully, I find myself in the camp of the former: there's so much to see, do, and learn as you joyfully follow along with Opoona on his adventure that I can't help but allow myself to be whisked away. What a neat, eccentric little title this is.